PROTON aims at improving existing knowledge on the processes of recruitment to organised crime and terrorist networks (OCTN) through an innovative integration between social and computational sciences. Moving beyond the state of the art, this integration will support evidence-based policies at the international, national and local level. To achieve its aim, PROTON will complete three specific objectives: 1. Investigate the social, psychological and economic factors leading to OCTN (WP1 and 2), including their connection with cybercrime and the cyberspace (WP3). The factors will be transformed into input (WP4) for PROTON’s final outputs, PROTON-S and PROTON Wizard (WP5), designed for helping policy makers to act more effectively against OCTN. 2. Develop PROTON-S, agent-based modelling (ABM) simulations of the effects of different societal and environmental changes on OCTN. PROTON-S will generate virtual societies in a computer laboratory, enabling to test the impact of different scenarios on the evolution of, and particularly individuals’ recruitment to, OCTN. 3. Develop PROTON Wizard, a user-friendly software tool embedding the results of the ABM simulations. PROTON’s impact will improve the quality of prevention policies on OCTN, providing at the same time significant innovations in the social, technological and computational sciences. PROTON-S, based on simulations, will bear no ethical and societal risks, and will create a breakthrough in the understanding of OCTN, enabling better policies and stimulating further innovation. PROTON Wizard will provide the first support tool for policy makers at the international, national and local level, giving easy access to the most advanced scientific research. The participation of different policy makers and potential end-users throughout the whole project will make sure that the final results specifically meet their needs and expectations.

The proposed solution aims to deliver a descriptive and predictive data analytics platform and related tools using state-of-the-art machine learning and artificial intelligence methods to prevent, detect, analyse, and combat criminal activities. AIDA will focus on cybercrime and terrorism, by addressing specific challenges related to law enforcement investigation and intelligence. While cybercrime and terrorism pose distinct problems and may rely on different input datasets, the analysis of this data can benefit from the application of the same fundamental technology base framework, endowed with Artificial Intelligence and Deep Learning techniques applied to big data analytics, and extended and tailored with crime- and task- specific additional analytic capabilities and tools. The resulting TRL-7 integrated, modular and flexible AIDA framework will include LE-specific effective, efficient and automated data mining and analytics services to deal with intelligence and investigation workflows, extensive content acquisition, information extraction and fusion, knowledge management and enrichment through novel applications of Big Data processing, machine learning, artificial intelligence, predictive and visual analytics. AIDA system and tools will be made available to LEAs through a secure sandbox environment that aims to raise the technological readiness level of the solutions through their application in operational environment with real data.

Infinity’s ambition is to become a flagship project against society’s most pressing cybercriminal, terrorist and hybrid threats. Synthesising the latest innovations in virtual and augmented reality, artificial intelligence and machine learning with big data and visual analytics, Infinity will deliver an integrated solution that aims to revolutionise data-driven investigations. Bringing together a strong representation from national and supranational agencies with an end-user-driven design, it will directly address the core needs of contemporary law enforcement. Specifically, it will equip investigators and analysts with cutting-edge tools to acquire, process, visualise and act upon the enormous quantities of data they are faced with every day. Bolstered by cognitive research, automated systems and instinctive interfaces and controls, Infinity will be designed and developed to maximise the potential of individual investigators. On a collective level, the immersive collaborative environment offered by Infinity will enable co-located and remote LEA cooperation in ways that have not yet been realised. This end-to-end system for LEA operations will cover the full investigative cycle, including generating reports for decision-makers and admissible evidence to demonstrate to juries and judges. Ultimately, the solutions offered by Infinity will propel LEAs ahead of traditional and evolving complex, hybrid and transnational threats and protect the societies they serve.